Many dream of traveling to faraway places, but not many students get the chance to
live their dream while they are still in college, let alone travel to 12 different
countries within four months while still pursuing a degree. But that’s exactly what Sasha Burnett is doing as she studies abroad with Semester
at Sea.

Semester at Sea is a study-abroad program that provides the opportunity to gain new
experiences by traveling and learning aboard the MV Explorer, a state-of-the-art floating
campus. The Spring 2015 voyage is currently traveling from San Diego, Cal., to Hawaii,
Japan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Burma, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Nambia, Morocco
and England.

Burnett is a second year environmental engineering student at Michigan Tech. “I have
always known that I wanted to study abroad, but I had no idea where I wanted to go,”
she says. “When my boyfriend found Semester at Sea on the study abroad website, I
couldn’t help but think that traveling to 12 different countries was the best option.”

Burnett received a full scholarship to participate in this program in exchange for
an individual project she is conducting during her time on the ship. Her eventual
goal is to use her environmental engineering degree to travel the world and help communities
that don’t have safe, drinkable water to develop methods of treating groundwater,
so she incorporated that interest into her project.

In each of the ports where the MV Explorer is docking, Burnett will be testing the
quality of the drinking water using a First Alert drinking water test kit. The kit
tests the water for pH, chlorine, hardness, lead, nitrates/nitrites, bacteria and
pesticides.

Before she left for the semester, Burnett did some research on each of the port cities
to determine their current water use situation. She also tested the ship’s water to
serve as a standard. Burnett has also made the effort to contact a local water company
at each port and to speak with locals about their water use.

“Each month I am holding a seminar where other students on the ship can come to hear
about the results and discuss possible solutions for that area,” says Burnett. “The
ultimate goal of the project is to see the range in water quality globally and to
develop some solutions to fix it.”

As you can imagine, class atmosphere is a little different on a ship compared to the
MEEM. While on Semester at Sea, students live with their professors and their families.
Everyone travels to the same places, eats in the same dining hall, experiences the
same rough seas, and sometimes goes on the same shore trips. Faculty frequently ask
students to join them for lunch and encourage them to drop by whenever they have a
question.

“Although I love the small campus at Michigan Tech, I feel as though the professors
teach and then go home for the rest of the day,” says Burnett. “Here, we are always
learning, and a question never goes unanswered.”

Burnett continues, “Most of our classes are focused on teaching us information about
the places that we are visiting. If it is an art class, we learn about the art in
the next port city. If it’s a geohazards class, we learn about the potential hazards
where we are going. During our time at the port, we don’t have classes, but we are
each learning different things about the country, and when we come back to class,
we have the opportunity to discuss them together and learn from them.”

Getting your sea legs can also be a large change from walking like a penguin up in
Houghton’s icy climate, and that’s what Burnett calls her biggest challenge. “There
have really been two challenging parts of the program for me, but they go hand-in-hand,”
she says. “One is that if you get seasick, there is no escaping it, and classes are
required so you can’t have a sick day. The other is that there is never enough time
to recover in between ports. It is all a learning process though, and once you learn
to balance sleep and experiences, there is no downside to this program.”

In addition to her sea legs warning, Burnett says, “Do it!” if you are considering
apply to this program.

“It is only a month into the program, and I have already learned so much about myself
and about the world around me,” she explains. “This program is all about community,
and while on board, you form this huge family and everyone looks after each other.
I have absolutely no regrets for joining Semester at Sea, and if given the opportunity,
I would do it again in a heartbeat!”

Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than
7,000 students from 60 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than
120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering,
forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and
social sciences. Our campus in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway
and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.